1st Chemo on Thursday

I can't answer your questions because everyone reacts differently.  The nurse will keep a close eye on you during the infusion and will do what is needed.   Hopefully, everything will go smoothly and you may not feel the effects until the next day.

Good luck!  It is great that you have your children to help out. 

You can do this, be brave, roar and fight like a girl!    We are here for you.  No question is too dumb or simple or silly.   We totally get it.   Take a zrytec before you leave the house, it will help.  and water water water.    eat bland and little bites and 6 small meals vs 3 big ones.   Watermelon feels good on the tummy too.   Those are just the few hints my nurses gave me to help. 

HUGS,

Annie

Good for you in getting ready for post-treatment needs.  I will just share here that after my Neulasta shot I slept - A LOT!!!!!

i remember sleeping one day around treatment 3 for 11 hours.  Oh, how guilty I felt, but I was grateful to have slept for that time rather than experience SE that I would not have enjoyed.

Many talk about joint pain after Neulasta - I did heed their advice and took Claritin for at least 7 days.  Maybe that made me sleep, too.  I'll take a Snow White/ Sleeping Beauty day if I can.

I also suggest documenting SE - I found through my 6 treatments that the SE surfaced on the same days (1, 2,3,etc).  Documenting them helped me prepare for the next treatment. ( things like metal taste days 3 - 9,  itchy bottom, days 4 - 8).

May your discomfort be minimal and your support be great!

Kathy

I don't know what AC means, but I had adriamycin every 2 wks times 4. Neulasta is a real  **** and causes massive bone pain. I couldn't figure out why my bones hurt so bad. There isn't a Zyrtec in the world that could have controlled that. I started pain pills after 2cond treatment. I found I could hardly sleep at all, so they gave me sleeping pill which I cut in half. Half was good enough. I didn't have to take every night, as it seemed to kick in normal sleep pattern for few days after. I had a respiratory reaction within minutes of starting the first infusion, so I had to have IV benadryl before each infusion plus massive doses of steroid. It worked. That metal taste they tell you about doesn not go away easily. All food tasted like garbage to me and couldnt eat especially meat. All that tasted good to me was lemon pudding cups, dill pickles and sour cream. Weird, but true. I was sick all the time, but anti nausea meds did help. I got very weak and luckily I'm retired, cause I couldn't have worked at all. My daughter came up from another state and brought me some dark chocolate fudge with pot in it. I was hesitant to try it and took one small bite. Nothing happened so I took another bite. Within half hr all my pain, nausea went 100% away for the next 4hrs. It also had a slight relaxing effect, less than what the Ativan did. It's too bad the medical community isn't getting on board fast enough with medical pot. Way different than buying pot on the street corner. I could have gotten rid of 4 of my meds and taken a couple bites of medical pot which had zero side effects. I could have gotten rid of opiate that I had to take for 3 mos. I was never a person who did illegal drugs at all, but this changed my mind about medical marajuana. I didn't want her to get into trouble bringing in something illegal just for me. Too bad, it could have made all the difference in the way I felt. The taxol that I had to do every wk was so horrible, I had to quit after week 8. I actually came close to dying I think. I read several articles in my research that people over 60 should maybe not take full doses of chemo, as we tend to die from it. Some statistic. I was kind of mad at the medical team for not telling me this. I would have come to different decisions. The biggest hurdle you will have to overcome is the dishonesty of medical personnel. YOu get half truths as if they think you can't handle it. This is not a way a person should be treated when have a life threatening illness. I, for one, told all of them from the beginning that I wanted full truth all the time. I caught them many times lying by omission, like I couldn't handle whole truth or something. They shouldn't be the judges of that. I would have made different decisions had I known everything. Some of the SE of chemo will be permanent, meaning for rest of your life. They usually forget to tell you that. Can you live with these SE. Taxol causes terrible, painful neuropathy of feet, legs and hands. My hands actually became paralyzed. I hate to think what would have happened if I would have taken the last 4 treatments. My feet burn and have pain and I've developed restless leg syndrome which is a pain to try and be still and sleep. My taste has gotten better but I notice it comes and goes and I know people who have permanently loss sense of normal taste. For LIFE. I can eat most meat now. Chemo kills the fast growing gastric cells and that's why things taste funny or terrible. They don't tell you why you are experiencing the SE. Even popscicles tasted awful after a while. I could eat anything with vinegar in it.  Why I don't know, but another patient told me, she ate pickles too cause only thing that tasted good. There are some people who can go thru this a little easier and then there are the people it slams to earth and you are very sick. I have never met anyone who sailed through yet. Your hair will start growing back about 2 mos after you stop chemo. The medical people acted like hair loss was the most horrible thing you would go thru. They talked about that, but failed to mention all the truly awful things you would be going thru. So stupid. Hair, that's gonna be the least of your problems. Everything they did, they led from behind. I should have had all meds before a month. I started to feel sorry for all the new patients that I saw come in. My chemo took at least 4 hrs each time. They usually hydrate you first too. You can't feel meds going thru your port, but they have a numbing spray they can use just before they insert needle. It hurts a little when they put needle in. Ask for numbing spray cause they usually forget. I sure hope your one of those people that sail through, but in case you don't, if you have a way to try medical marajuana, I would try it. I couldn't believe how well it worked. I was amazed.  They don't want to give it a chance, but they will write a script for oxycontin with no problem. Go figure!! It's nice to be positive, but you also have to be realistic. There are serious consequences to chemo and radiation. Very serious. and that includes secondary CA. You have to go into this informed. It's not just the beating of CA. It's the qualiity of life you will have after. Lot of people have serious things happen as a result of this poison they are giving you and make no mistake, it is POISON. So with all that in mind, you can make decisions. We all want to live, and so do I. But what I told all my DR's is that I am more afraid of them, than I am of GOD. I have made peace with my mortality. If it comes to that I can make informed decisions. My chemo is done now and I do have permanent things that will be with me for life. I didn't know that until after it happened. Not fair to you or to me. So be aware. You are a lot younger than I and I am sure if I was your age, I may make different decisions. Walk into this with your eyes wide open. I don't think people really like to talk about hard realities usually. They want to be all lightness and laughter. That's ok too, but life can be harsh and the reality is that chemo poisons your body forever. Adriamycin is so terrible that you can only have 9 doses in a lifetime. Personally you couldn't pay me to go thru chemo again. I am sorry one so young is going thru this. I have noticed that breast cancer is hitting young women in high numbers. I know I'm gonna live the best I can. My last chemo was in April and my taste is still not totally back to normal. I was told that many of the SE may not go away for yr and half. Some never. Be informed. That is the best advice I can give you. Take care